Squishy is the Queen!

This is how you make a bed when a cat is laying on the rumpled up corner...

She glared at me the entire time with a look that said, "do not even think about moving me to make this bed!!".....so I didnt! Anyone with a female cat knows that there is no point in pretending like you are in charge!!

ps: I was running late this morning also because she laid (all comfy looking) on my back as I was trying to get up! :)

pps: Don't laugh at our polar bear sheets. They were on sale and they are flannel...plus they are purple and I think they are cute!!

And a cute picture of Domino with his head out the window on the way to the dog park....just because its furry friday!

A very brave kitty!

Squash is very brave, and a bit of a brat! She is no longer scared of Domino, so now it is her self-proclaimed job to make sure he is aware that the house (and everything in it) belongs to her! So, what does that result in? A 6lb cat bossing around our 100+ pound dog!

He didn't even attempt to get his bone from her, just looked at me with pleading eyes. The pictures don't do justice to a Squishy glare!

Furry Friday

I'm going to talk about other people's pets on this furry friday. I do pet sitting as a pseudo-part time job right now and this, even more than working in vet clinics, has made me realize that there are some funny pets out there...and some even funnier owners!
(all names are made up by the way, gotta maintain the anonymity of these kids!)

Marty, Matt, and Gill: These guys rock! They have so much personality that I think they may be comedians in furry form :) Gill is a chubby cat who morphs into a pirrhana at dinner time. He actually needs to be removed from the rest of the food bowls or he will dive in with no regard for the other teeth that are in the way. Matt is a oversized cat who acts like a human. He is bigger than most small breed dogs that I have seen and "talks" like crazy. Marty is the dog of the family and is a wonderful sweetheart!

(Not Oliver, just an example of the cart!)

Oliver: This one is a doosy! He is a really old dog that is past his due date! He "walks" with a cart and needs to take breaks to cough up some phlem about ever 5 steps or so. He wears diapers because he has "lost function" but I think he really just likes people wiping his butt for him! Although it sounds pretty funny, its actually very sad. It is my firm belief that we are given a gift through the ability to euthanize our pets and that we should have the strength to be able to pass that gift on to them when it is time.

Carrie and Gaston: If ever anyone has a fear or hatred of pitbulls, they need to meet these 2. Carrie is the sweetest girl ever, although quite a bed hog. Gaston is like a 5 year old boy who needs his Ritalin! He actually has a treadmill in the house just for him! They are 2 beautiful, rescued pits who I absolutely love!

(again, not him, just showing how darn cute they are!)

Dobby: This guy is the epitome of a lack of stranger danger! He is an adorable italian greyhound who thinks that the world is his best friend. He slept inbetween my legs within 10 minutes of meeting me. For anyone who has never seen an italian greyhound, they are basically miniture versions of a greyhound and they look (and are sometimes) very fragile! Picture that, now try sleeping with one tucked under your arm, in bed, under the covers! Adorable, but slightly anxiety provoking :)

 

I love meeting animals and being witness to their amazing personalities. We have to thank the brave scientists out there like Jane Goodall who broke through the absurd belief that animals have no emotions. Spend 5 minutes with one and it is readily apparent that they are emotional beings with distinct personalities. What would the world be without our furry friends for love and entertainment?!

A sampling of my favorite commercials on Furry Friday...

...because of course, they are always about animals!

This is just plain adorable!


This is my favorite commercial ever! It makes me want to fly with an emu! :)


Another good WA lottery one. The things we do for our pets....

Dog park entertainment

I am going to focus my 2nd "furry friday" on the unique experience of a dog park. Although we hate the area that we live in because it is south of Seattle and too far from everything, we love that it is surrounded by great little hidden dog parks!

The not-actually-a-dog park

This one is the best by far! It is 130 acres of trails, open patches, and beautiful wooded areas surrounding a cute little lake. There are 2 openings to the lake; 1 has an awesome dock for dogs to play around and the other is more secluded which is nice when Domino is being a bit too crazy for public.

This isn't supposed to be an off-leash park, there are signs clearly stating that. But, I have never been there without seeing much more people with dog than not. So, it's "unofficial" and until they start fining, Domino is running free!

The advertisement park

This park is a feed, tack, and pet supply store's attempt at drawing in customers...and it works. They have 2 fenced areas in front of their store for off-leash fun. This is great for socializing Domino (he really needs it) and for good tiring dog play time. The problem with this one; it is cliquey! There is an after work crew that stands in the middle of it regulating the activity. It feels like high school gym class when all I really want to do is watch my dog play like a big goon with other pups.

The new park

This one we just found yesterday. It is just a big fenced in rectangle out in the middle of a human park/trail area. It is huge so it is good for running and great for sitting on the opposite end if you just want some silence! It pretty far away though, it takes about 20 min to drive to while the others take 5.

The people:

For those of you who have never been to a dog park, I thought I would share a little bit of the personality types. It can be pretty interesting! Even if you don't have a dog, you should borrow someone's (mine is up for grabs!!) and just sit and observe...pretty funny!

The queen bee:

I say queen, because it usually is a woman...odd. She "owns" the park and she lets you know it by giving details of every dog there. "Oh that’s Buggy, he is really nice," "Scooter doesn’t like the water..oh look at him swimming, that’s weird." The advertisement park has one of these who makes me want to cover my ears with poop bags! Her commentary on the dogs could probably be heard from Oregon! This dog park personality is the reason I will drive the extra 15 minutes to be able to sit on the quiet end of the new park.

The oblivious owner:
This is the person who has a really aggressive, slobbery, humping, jumpy, or otherwise intrusive dog but has absolutely no idea. They say things like "he isn't mean, he is just saying hi" as their dog is lunging at your dog with teeth barred. The advertisement park has one of these people who actually leaves her dog in the park to hump everyone while she shops!

The overprotective owner:

This person is the opposite of the oblivious owner. They follow their dog around analyzing every move. "She has 1 hair up on her back, maybe you should grab your dog" or "do you have to poop yet fluffy, are you thirsty honey the water is over here...oh no! it’s dirty, let’s grab more." I have to say, I prefer this person over most other personalities, but if you are this concerned with every little movement maybe your back yard is a better place for you. Less chance of you getting an ulcer over the play patterns of your dog.

The wallflower owner:

This is the person who is quiet and stays on the sidelines while the dogs play. This is me! I sit on the bench and watch Domino play. Ill get up if he poops obviously or if he needs some encouragement to get in the mess and play with the other dogs. Otherwise, I sit and mind my own business. This is why I like the not-actually-a-dog park, it is open spaces and I can keep walking if I don’t want to join a clique that is forming. Call me antisocial or weird if you want but when I am at a dog park I just want to be with my dog. I like talking to people, but no, I do not want to band together against that owner that doesn’t like brown dogs or whatever you are recruiting for. I just want to walk with my dog!

Dog park inevitibles:
You will be asked what your dog is...even if you have told that person multiple times and they have said "oh my cousin has a dog like that, he likes to (insert quirky dog trait here)"

You will be told some funny story that makes that person's dog the best dog in the entire world! "Fudgie brings me my slippers in the bathroom, can you believe it?!"

You will be glared at by someone at some point in time for some "horrendous" thing your dog did. Domino once pooped at the advertisement park in the middle of a group of dogs who were sniffing him and one of the owners said "that dog is pooping" with great disdain in her voice. He is a dog and that is what they do! I was on my way over with poop bag in hand while she gave me a look of disgust.

You will get slobbered on, leg humped, ran over, and jumped on with muddy paws. But that is the best part! The dogs are the part of the dog park that I love, they make it fun....their owners make it interesting!

My Squishy..

I love my cat! Her name is Squash, but we call her Squishy. She is seriously the cutest thing in the entire world....ok, I admit that I may be biased, but just look at her!

Why the name Squash you ask? She was brought into the vet clinic I was working at back home. She was only a couple of weeks old and was brought in by some kids. They said that they were supposed to be feeding their neighbors kittens while she was gone. They went over to check on them and found her crying on the floor with blood on her. So the vet went to work giving her medication and trying to figure out what was wrong. She didn't cry if we held her so we all took turns holding her while we tried to get ahold of the owner. She finally answered her phone and we found out that she was at Sturgis. She said she had rolled her over with a rocking chair but left her there because "I didn't want to be late for Sturgis!" We told her what we were doing and she said she didn't want to spend any money on her so just put her to sleep. Well by this time we were all attached, so she became a clinic project.

She was paralyzed and couldn't eat. We hand fed her watered down wed food and gave her shots in her little back 3 times a day. Then the weekend came and the sucker that I am, I offered to take her home and continue her treatments. Well as you can imagine, I fell in love! Who wouldn't? She was teeny tiny, would cry until you held her, and was fighting like hell to be able to walk. I didn't really have the time or money to take another pet so I was trying to talk myself out of it. But then one night she was sitting in my lap on the floor and she found a way to drag her little 2lb self over to my dog Beau and curled up in his tail....I was hooked for life! Beau wasn't so sure, but she even grew on him.

That was 5 years ago. Today Squash is a moody and very odd cat. She tries really hard but somehow doesn't always make it in the litter box so we have to have a system rigged up to make it work for her. She walks louder than our 100lb dog even though she only weighs about 5lbs. Any amount of stress in her life caused her entire butt end to go bald for months. She never grew into her meow so she still sounds like a kitten. She hates everyone in the world except for us and would likely cause serious bodily harm if she felt it was required. She plays with invisible bugs and climbs the walls to get them. She quite often forgets what she is doing and walks family circus style paths through the house trying to figure it out.

Moral of the story: Save a life, adopt your pets. It can be a hassle I know, but I believe that everyone in the world needs a Squishy!

Anyone else have crazy pet stories? I know you do.....

Furry Friday

Domino thinks he is a snake wrangler! Actually in reality, he was terrified of this toy when I brought it home. It is about 4ft long and he would walk all the way around it when it was one the floor. It took our teeny tiny cat playing with it for him to finally get up the nerve.....thats our snake wrangler!!